In chatting with an Answermug friend about being safe from terrorism she suggested going to the Arctic to live. Great idea, isn't it?

Thank you so much for the kind offer my friend. Years ago when I lived in Boston I met an Aussie gal who had been to southern California (I told her that was where I had moved from) and she told me that a lot of Australia is like southern California weather-wise. I just looked up the location of Adelaide on my large wall map of the world and it appears to be on the southwest coast. Would Adelaide remind me of southern California? If so that would be just my cuppa tea. I also noticed a town called Alice Springs.  I saw a movie long ago titled "A town called Alice". I have heard that the Outback is for staunchly sturdy people. Are  you more a coast/sea guy, a desert/inland guy or a mountain man Sbf? We love autumn and it is on the horizon here. Per our calendar it will occur Friday, September 22. What are your autumns like down under? I'll run that by Jim just in case. Thanks again for the invite! I shall treasure it! :) (9hugs)) Oh. I know seasons are not the same here and where you live. Life is all about adjusting to the changes isn't it?

Spring is sprung, the grass is ris. I wonder where the lawnmower is? Winter is yet to release its grip, still cold, wet and miserable.

Alice is right in the middle of Australia - an outback town and not a particularly big one as towns go, but big for the outback.
I'm a beach guy, most Australians kinda huddle round the coast.  Much of the inland is uninhabitable unless you know how, and most whitefellas don't bother to learn.

Cute Sbf. What is your favorite spot in Australia? A few years ago when Oprah Winfrey had a show she took an entire studio audience to Australia! The pilot was John Travolta. I know. Bizarre doesn't cover it. He's a Scientology guy Aye yi yi. During the week she spent there we saw some nifty sights. Of course the Opera House is extraordinarily beautiful and singular. But there was a place a few hours  drive away from where they stayed..along the coast..where large rocks stood upright in the water almost like sentinels were guarding it. Do you know the place I mean? Of course when the Australian Open comes around in January we will be glued to the TV for two weeks. Crocodile Dundee was a pretend person, right?  But remember Steve Irwin? His daughter Bindi has carried on his work with animals. His death was so surreal considering the life he led. Do you have a native Aussie dish that's your favorite? I know there is a lot more to Down Under cuisine than "shrimp on the barbie". Thank you for your reply! :) This post was edited by RosieG at September 18, 2017 4:42 AM MDT

Roasted kangaroo is very good - has to be cooked slowly, the meat is very dense so it's easy to ruin - charcoal on the outside, raw in the middle if you don't get it right. Lillipilli jam is also good, but rare. Forget witchetty grubs unless you like soft peanuts.
We don't call those crustaceans "shrimp", either - Paul Hogan "Americanized" it for the advert. They're prawns.

My favourite place us where I grew up, the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. Above the smog, and there are still some "wildernessy" places where you can get your soul out and take a good look at it.

Kangaroo is a food Down Under? I think of mummy dearest with her convenient little pouch hopping about with her young uns. I have never heard of Lillipilli. Is it unique to Australia? I'm gonna Google it. It sounds awfully much like Lilliputian. It tickles the tongue when you say it. A most pleasant sensation. "I'll have the Lillipilli jam please".I looked up "witchetty grub" thinking it wouldn't be in the dictionary! I thunk wrong! My reaction is "EWWW". Larva of moths and beetles? Seriously, people EAT it? Oy vey! You have Blue Mountains too? We have Blue Mountains in NE Oregon and SW Washington. We have Blue Ridge Mountains (part of the Appalachian Mountains) from N.Virginia to N. Georgia. I wonder how many Blue Mountains there are in the world? Your Blue Mountains sound very appealing to me Your description of what they make you feel like as well.  Thank you for your very informative reply Sbf and Happy Tuesday! :)

Kangaroo is hunted much like deer in Pennsylvania. Does venison gross you out? That's Bambi's mom you're chowing down on. Roos also frequently reach plague proportions, a mob of roos can wreak havoc on food crops so the farmers are legally permitted to shoot a limited number of them (one of the few situations where firearms are legal in Australia), it's far better to eat them than leave the carcasses to rot.
Witchetty grubs aren't my cuppa tea either - no "ewww" factor, I just don't like the taste. John the Baptist lived on locusts and wild honey, cicada for lunch doesn't sound appetizing either.
As for the wilderness, as you know I'm not much of a one for solitude - but I never felt lonely there. I had God for company.

You mean does eating Bambi's mother offend me? Kinda sorta bigly. I have tasted venison years ago Sbf and I really didn't like it. It was tough and "gamey".It was only one small bite and I tried very hard to chew it and that was enough. Is Kangaroo "gamey" too? How far away is this wondrous peaceful place from your home Sbf? Is it too far away to travel to very often? I know in the states a few years back eating insects was de rigeur (sp?). They'd show a cook on TV preparing it! Very high in protein they said. I once a saw a can of chocolate-covered ants in a gourmet imported food store. I'm not kidding. I couldn't believe it then and I still can't believe it. I think knowing I was eating insects would make me barf. The mind is a very powerful weapon to have on your side but sometimes that weapon can work against you. In my case I woul be visualizing the little critters crawling about, wriggling. I think I'd pass. Thank you for your reply! :)

Way too far to do often, I live a thousand miles from where I grew up. I make a point of going "bush" at least once every time I travel east to visit family.

Oh wow! That is a long distance. Good thing that you can "indulge" in the rough on occasion though. What attire do you wear there Sbf? Is it very different from your normal daily clothes? Thank you for your reply and Happy Wednesday! :)

I'm not sure that the aboriginal people would agree with you on that. This post was edited by Salt and Red Pepper at September 17, 2017 3:03 PM MDT

Not quite the same thing - and tge Kaurna people of the Adelaide plains weren't slaughtered like those on the East coast and Tasmania. Smallpox decimated them, not deliberate action

So, you're saying that the aboriginal people weren't terrified when the new white invaders started to kill them off "en masse"? Such an attempt to sanitize/justify it makes it no less heinous.(Why do those of English descent always do that anyhow?)

As to smallpox . . . that's biological warfare at its finest for the time. Just like Chris Columbus did to the "aboriginal" people of the "new world" with all those nice blankets.

Yah! Good times "down under".

It DIDN'T HAPPEN IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. The local nungas acknowledge that. The whitefellas moved in but didn't slaughter the locals - that happened in Sydney, Tasmania, Moreton Bay. Not here. I'm part aboriginal myself, I've made it my business to learn. (I'm not of English descent either - my ancestry is mostly Irish, plus one Canuck, one aborigine and one with no past - he called himself "John Smith", 'nuff said).